Networking software maker Citrix seeks buyers: sources

(Reuters) - U.S. networking software company Citrix Systems Inc has been exploring strategic alternatives including a potential sale, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Citrix, which gave activist hedge fund Elliott Management a board seat in 2015, has looked at selling itself in the past, before embarking on spin-offs and sales of smaller business units. It now has a market capitalization of $13.2 billion.

Several private equity firms have recently considered an acquisition of Citrix but decided that a leveraged buyout would not be easily achieved or profitable, the people said. However, one buyout firm that is still interested in an acquisition of Citrix is Thoma Bravo LLC, the people added.

Citrix is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc to assist it in the process, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private.

Citrix and Goldman Sachs declined to comment, while Thoma Bravo could not be reached for comment. Bloomberg News first reported earlier on Monday that Citrix was working with Goldman Sachs to explore a sale.

Citrix completed a deal to merge a unit that makes video conferencing software such as GoToMeeting in an all-stock deal with LogMeIn earlier this year.

Elliott Management has previously pushed for Citrix to explore options for NetScaler, a part of its business that helps speed up Web-based applications. The core business of Citrix makes virtualization software used by employees to help them log on remotely.

(This story corrects wording in seventh paragraph to note that Elliott pushed company to explore options for NetScaler, but company has not announced plans to do so.)

Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York and Liana B. Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Mary Milliken